The Sabbatical is Over

Okay, so I was not really on sabbatical, just got lazy and sidetracked planning my wedding. Now that the event is over and there is no more crazy planning to do- I intend to start writing my cooking adventures in this blog again! Although I did not actually need to write a post for this, I figured if I did, I would hold myself accountable.

Updates since I last posted (what feels like forever ago)--- I am now gluten free. Imagine that, the girl who loves beer, pizza and dessert can no longer eat wheat/gluten. So, from here on out, all recipes coming from me will be glutenus minimus. (Unless Rob sneaks in a post of course...)

Sweet Corn and Black Bean Salad

This recipe is SO easy to make and would add nice color to any BBQ! To top it all off, it is gluten free, vegan & high in fiber! Doesn't sound good? Well, I challenge you to make it and then tell me it does not taste good... come on, I dare you! Hint hint- you will lose because its delicious!

Ingredients:

1 Can of corn, rinsed and drained
2 Cans of Black Beans (no salt added), rinsed and drained
1/3-1/2 cup diced red onion
1.5-2 Tb seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tb Olive Oil
1 Tb Lime juice (fresh squeezed!)
1/4 Tsp. Sea salt
1/2 Tsp Ground black pepper
1/2-1 Whole Red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

How To:

Take beans, corn, diced onion and red pepper and put them into a strainer. Rinse thoroughly and let sit to dry. In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly until ingredients are well combined to create a dressing. Then, combine the bean mixture into the dressing. Toss until incorporated. Cover and chill for about 2 hours. Add cilantro before serving. Enjoy!

Tips:

*After adding the cilantro and you serve the dish, if all is not eaten- it keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
*The reason you rinse the red onion is to get rid of the sharp flavor

Homemade Granola Bars

Do you ever find you are too busy to make yourself a healthy breakfast or even make breakfast at all? Well, this recipe will solve all your problems! Not only are these homemade granola bars nutritious and delicious they are super easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Oatmeal ( I used quick cook)

1 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Cup Shredded Coconut

1/4 Cup Flax Seeds

3 TB Unsalted Butter

2/3 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)

1-2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Dried Fruit, chopped (I used strawberries)

How To:

Preheat your oven to 325. Then butter an 8x12 or 9x13 inch glass baking dish and sprinkle a little flour in it. Set this aside for later. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oatmeal, coconut and almonds. Spread onto a baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes,  stirring occasionally. Coconut should start to brown a little. After 10-12 minutes, transfer bake into mixing bowl and stir in flax seeds; set aside.

Into a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar, honey, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir for 1 minute. Pour  over oatmeal mixture; add fruit. Mix well.

Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Press mixture evenly into the pan with your fingers or a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let your creation cool for at least 2 hours, preferably 3 hours before cutting. Cut into individual bars, wrap in plastic wrap and store in pantry.

Enjoy!

Notes:

I used dried strawberries, but if your want a cheaper option you can substitute strawberries for raisins or cranberries.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Tonight I had the urge to bake so I made chocolate peanut butter bars, yum yum! This recipe is so incredibly easy and so delicious!


Ingredients:


1 Cup Peanut Butter (creamy)
6 Tb Butter, softened
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
2 Cups Chocolate Chips, divided


Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla, and mix until creamy. Blend in flour and salt. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread into ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle all remaining chocolate chips over the top of the dish. Let stand 5 minutes, this should give the chocolate enough time to start melting. After 5 minutes, use a spoon to spread the chocolate to an even layer across the entire top of this dish of deliciousness! Let it cool completely before serving.

DIG IN!

Suggestions/changes:

The recipe says to let the dish cool completely before serving... I definitely jumped in and cut myself a bar after about 15 minutes out of the oven and it was still extremely tasty! Also, the recipe calls for creamy peanut butter- I used fresh ground and it worked just fine. I could see how creamy peanut butter would work butter, but fresh ground was all we had and it did the trick!

Kale Chips

Something Rob and I recently started making rather frequently are kale chips. They are super easy to make and delicious! Something nice about cooking with kale is that it is SO good for you. Whole Foods uses a scale to measure nutrition called ANDI that basically rates foods 1-1000, 1 being least nutritious and 1000 being most. Kale is 1000 on that scale. However, I believe by making them chips it diminishes some of the nutrition but they are still fantastic!

Ingredients:


1 Bunch of kale
1 Tb Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Process:


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Wash all kale but do not dry completely. Rip leafy part of kale away from the stem in medium-large sized pieces. Once you have all leafy pieces pulled away from stems, place leafy kale pieces in a bowl and toss completely with olive oil (throw stems away). Once covered in olive oil, sprinkle a small amount of pepper and toss again. Then, spread kale onto a cookie sheet (I cover mine with aluminum foil). It is okay if the pieces overlap, but try to spread it out the best you can. Place in the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take kale out of the oven and flip over. Some pieces should be starting to slightly brown and become smaller. Once pieces are flipped, place them back in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Make sure to keep your eye on it- it can easily burn. Kale is done when all pieces are crispy. Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Serve immediately!

Yummy yummy! We enjoyed our kale chips with spaghetti with meat sauce but they really go with so many different types of meals! They also make a great snack.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This Sunday, and for the past 3 Sundays, Rob and I have made Chicken Tortilla Soup. Needless to say.. we are addicted. The nice thing about this dish is that it provides dinner for the night you make it and at least 2 lunches afterwards and it only costs around $10! See a picture below (before we add cheese and chips of course):

Ingredients:

4 Boneless, Skinless chicken thighs

1 Cup Chicken Broth (Pacific Natural Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, 32-Ounce Containers (Pack of 12))

2 Cans Organic diced tomatoes with garlic, oregano and olive oil (Muir Glen Organic Tomatoes, Diced, 14.5-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12))

1 Can of Organic Black Beans, drained and rinsed (Eden Organic Black Beans, No Salt Added, 15-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)_

1 4oz. Can of diced green chilies (Chi Chi's Green Chilies Diced, 4.25-Ounce Units (Pack of 12))

1 Yellow Onion, diced

3-5 Cloves of garlic, minced

1-3 Tsp. Cumin

Lawry's seasoning salt

Pepper

Garlic Pepper

Italian Seasoning

Sprinkle of Chili Powder

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tortilla Chips

Process:

To begin, take out your crockpot and turn it onto high heat. Add chicken to the crockpot and cover chicken with chicken broth, diced tomatoes, black beans, onions, garlic and all spices. (I did not specify quantity of seasoning to put in but use your judgement, you do not need a ton of each spice; spice to your own taste). Mix items in crockpot until well blended, make sure chicken is covered completely. Let cook for approximately 3 hours on high heat. After 3 hours, spoon chicken out of the crockpot and shred it with a fork. Once shredded, return chicken to crockpot and turn it down to low heat. After about 10 minutes, add your diced cilantro to the crockpot; mix well and turn crockpot down to "keep warm" setting (basically whatever setting stops cooking but keeps the food hot). Let sit for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, serve. I choose to serve it in bowls with shredded cheese over the top and pieces of tortilla chips spread around the sides of the bowl. See below:

You can also serve it with chips on the side however I like serving it with the chips in the bowl so they slightly soften in the broth.

Serve hot and enjoy! Per usual, if you have comments or suggestions on this recipe or any of my other recipes, please feel free to share and leave a comment.

Oven Baked BBQ Wings

Tonight Rob and I made oven baked BBQ wings and they turned out beautifully (And, were incredibly simple)! To make them, we partially used a recipe we found online but subtracted a few things and added a few things of our own. We served them with oven roasted red bliss potatoes and salad.

Ingredients:

1.5-2 lbs chicken wings

1 Jar BBQ sauce (Bone Suckin' BBQ Sauce Original Flavor 1 pint)

1 Medium yellow onion, diced

1 Tb Butter, chopped into small pieces

3-5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

Lawry's Seasoning Salt (Lawry's Seasoned Salt, 16 oz * Economy Size)

Garlic pepper (McCormick - Garlic Pepper Seasoning - 1.23-Oz. Grinder (Pack of 3))

Italian Seasoning (McCormick - Italian Herb Seasoning - Grinder - .77 Oz. (Pack of 3))

Pepper (William Bounds Key Mill "WB-1" Pepper Mill)

Process:

Preheat your oven to 420 degrees. Spray the bottom of a baking dish with cooking spray and spread pieces of butter around the dish (leaving the butter in chunks). Then, place chicken in the dish and cover with the onions and garlic. After, sprinkle your desired amount of seasonings onto the chicken. Finally, drizzle BBQ sauce over the wings in a criss-cross pattern. DO NOT use all your BBQ sauce now, use about half of your total desired amount. Then, cover the dish completely with aluminum foil; poke about 5 or 6 small knife holes in the aluminum foil. Place dish into the over for 45-50 minutes. After the amount of time, remove the dish from the oven and take off the aluminum foil. Mix up everything in the dish, making sure the chicken is coated. Once mixed, pour your remaining amount of BBQ sauce over the chicken. Place dish back in the oven, uncovered, for another 30 minutes. After time is up, remove the dish from the oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes before eating-waiting this amount of time will allow the sauce to thicken. After 5 minutes- DIG IN! The wings will literally be fall of the bone delicious!

As you can see from the picture, I used a ton of BBQ sauce. I probably did not need to use the extreme amount that I did but oh well, they tasted amazing!

I hope you get a chance to try this dish- they were truly the easiest wings I have ever made. Very little prep time and nothing I had to keep my eye on while they were cooking. It definitely was a pop it in the oven, set a timer and go watch TV, kind of meal!